US 6,807,590 B1 · Disconnecting a device on a cache line boundary in response to a write command

Abstract

Efficient bus operations is provided by maintaining alignment with cache line boundaries in response to a write command. A write buffer in a bridge device receives data from any one of a multiple number of bus interfaces. Write buffer management is utilized to monitor on a continuous basis the amount of free space available in the write buffer. When the data in the write buffer approaches the capacity of the write buffer, the system prepares for a potential disconnect of the write initiating device from the bridge device. Data alignment with cache line boundaries is maintained upon disconnect by adjusting the available free space in the write buffer to equal a multiple of a cache line amount of data. The write initiating device is disconnected when the data in the write buffer equals a write buffer full status.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A method for processing write commands from a device in a computer system, comprising the steps of:

detecting a write command from a computer device, thereby initiating a write operation;
receiving data in a buffer in response to the write command;
monitoring the status of the buffer to determine the amount of data in the buffer;
and
disconnecting the computer device to terminate the write operation when the buffer reaches a buffer full status such that the write operation is terminated when the data is aligned with a cache line boundary.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Disconnecting a device on a cache line boundary in response to a write command

Life of this patent

Disconnecting a device on a cache line boundary in response to a write command

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims19